==> Need Help w/REAR Differential/Locker Leak <PICTURES>

I've checked my truck 2 weeks ago making sure of all the maintenance and today I heard a noise in the rear end of the truck. The noise ended up being something unrelated but caused me to check under neath my truck.

The truck drives fine and seems great. When I looked underneath the truck, I spotted the problem right away. It wasn't there 2 weeks ago. My truck has 60,850 on it now. WARRANTY is just passed! Really! I looked my truck over 110% at 59,200 miles to check for anything I can get warrantied.

I felt it and smelled the wet fluid around the Locker/Differential and its the Synthetic Gear Oil for sure.

What is it? A seal? You can tell that its leaking and it got all over the rear end.

I'm worried about it now and I hope you guys can help me out.

Bummer man. . . ​

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looks like a pinion shaft seal gone bad to me. dont panic just keep the oil topped off till you can get it fixed

 

Weird. The only other time I saw that happen was on a Chevy S-10 blazer with 120,000 miles and a lot of towing under its belt. Def looks like pinion seal.

 

don't sweet it..this is common for our rear ends. the bolts that hold the 3rd member comes loose from the torque after so many miles. has happened to my taco as well. and it should be a maintenance item to do about every 15k miles or so. easy fix to do, just re-torque the nuts. takes a 14mm socket and according to the FSM it takes 14ftlbs to properly secure the nuts. what i end up doing while swapping a 3rd was to clean the threads and apply red lock-tight

 

^ Hahaha, I just jumped the gun and I answered below before I saw your response Monkey. Sweet... 14lbs you say? Guys are saying 20lbs. So I'll go with your suggestion of 14lbs

^ Do I need to replace it right away? This is a bummer. I haven't gone through large puddles of water or mud since 27k. I had changed the rear differential oil at 30k to Synthetic and stayed away from playing in mud or large water. Since then the Mobil 1 Sythentic oil is clean and I just changed it again at 60k. No Leaks.

I don't tow anything with my truck so there is no stress. I always engage my rear locker when I'm off-roading or out riding. Even when I engage it, I don't need it but I want to just make sure it works properly and not neglected.

So I'm reading only with searches and people are saying it could be the nuts/bolts not tightened correctly. So I'm going to tighten them down and torque it to 20lbs. Then check the fluid level as well.
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Thanks guys for your help. Anyone else with an insight as well?

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It looks like its leaking at the pinion shaft seal. Not the 3rd member.

 

here's what it looked like the first time i noticed the leak..looks i noticed it right as it first started. my buddy Ed noticed it for me.he was like "DUDE..you have shit dripping from your 3rd"

 

Thats what I was thinking as well but its all over the place. Thats why I added all the pictures in different angles to show you guys.

So if its the pinion shaft seal, what am I looking at for a remedy and cost?​

What sucks is I recently got my 2k Mountain Bike stolen and I've been scrapping up to buy a new MTB FSR bike. This I hope will not just put my extra hours at work with OT down the drain. I seriously have been busting my ass. . . .Dang. . .

 

Can someone edit the pics and put definitions and arrows with things like 'pinion seal' and '3rd member'? Some of us are still learning

ETA: 3rd member == pumpkin?

 

sometimes the residue from the oil can travel. but i would suggest to clean as best as possible the entire mess after re-torquing the nuts and then see if it's indeed the pinion seal leaking

 

I'm gonna go check my rear diff. Lol

 

^ Yeah, I'm going to clean everything off, retorque it and go from there. I'll keep checking it.

If worse comes to worse. What am I looking at for a pinion seal? Cost wise? Is it a D.I.Y kinda of job or I need a place. . .​

Thanks Guys for everything!

 

i don't have the FSM on the computer i have in front of me so i cant verify the numbers. but you should be fine after re-torquing the nuts and double checking the diff oil level.

 

It shouldn't be too costly to fix. Labor at the shop is gonna be somewhere in the $300 range (just a guess)

 

^Thanks man, thats why I love TW. If I don't know, you guys know. Ask or Search is always awesome.

^ Funny thing is I do ROMP my truck pretty hard to its capabilities when I go out to Gorman. I don't got too crazy but i do enjoy the festivities. I go over my suspension and other things after each run to make sure all is well. Never thought to check these bolts. . . ​

 

I know you are just past warranty, but you may get lucky if you know a dealership with a decent reputation. My brother had an issue with his wife's Camry at about 63,000 miles ($3,000 fix) and they took care of it no questions asked. If the dealership takes one look at your truck they will be able to tell it isn't abused. Anyway, I just thought I would toss that out there. Good luck!

 

unfortunately there are a small number of peeps here on TW that are on the band wagon that one should "search" rather then asking..derpity derp derp lol

 

Just checked my rear diff. Dry as a bone. (Whew) lol

 

^ you have a 2011. It better be! lol. ​

Yeah, I searched as you can tell but I always ask as well. Mine seem to differ from the other persons issue. So I wasnt sure.

 

If your down to drive out here to Clairmont Toyota I can get my buddy at the parts counter to get the tech that always checks my truck out for you....let me know. (he hasnt charged me shit yet...)